20190301order_no_34259.pdf

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
March 1,2019
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE JOINT )CASE NOS.SUZ-W-18-02
APPLICATION OF SUEZ WATER IDAHO )EAG-W-18-01
AND EAGLE WATER COMPANY FOR THE )ACQUISITIONOF EAGLE WATER )
COMPANY )ORDER NO.34259
OnNovember 15,2018,SUEZ Water Idaho ("SUEZ")and Eagle Water Company,Inc.
("Eagle Water")filed a Joint Application requesting that the Commission approve a proposed
acquisition of Eagle Water by SUEZ.On December 7,2018,the Commission issued a Notice of
Application and Notice of Intervention deadline.Order No.34203.The City of Eagle,Eagle
Water Customer Group,Boise City,Community Action Partnership Association of Idaho,and
Citizens Allied for Integrity and Accountability("CAIA")were granted intervention.Order No.
34229.
The parties have been actively engaged in discovery.On February 22,2019,CAIA
filed a Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Discovery with the Commission.CAIA's
Motion asked the Commission to order that CAIA "not be required to respond to [the First
Production Request of SUEZ Water Idaho,Inc.to CAIA]unless and until a scheduling order
resulting in a final hearing on the merits is entered by the Commission"or,in the alternative,after
a 60-day extension.CAIA Motion at 5.CAIA argued that matters outside of the Commission's
jurisdiction,such as a potential contractual dispute between the City of Eagle and Eagle Water,
warrant the extension.Id.Absent a Commission order,CAIA would have to respond to SUEZ's
discovery requests by March 1,2019.Id,Exhibit 3 at 1.
SUEZ answered CAIA's Motion on February 26,2019.SUEZ argued that the case is
not stayed,and that the information it is seeking from CAIA is relevant and readily available to
CAIA.SUEZ Answer at 4.SUEZ admitted that if litigationis filed between the City of Eagle and
Eagle Water Company,or other legal action is taken,there could be an impact on the
Commission's decision making in these matters.Id.SUEZ argued that if the Commission does
not deny CAIA's Motion outright,the Commission should grant no more than a 14-day extension.
Id.at 1.
This matter came before the Commission at its February 26,2019 decision meeting.
ORDER NO.34259 1
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Having reviewed the parties'filings,we deny CAIA's Motion.To this point,the parties
have been activelyengaged in discovery.Moreover,the production requests filed by SUEZ were
not onerous.We further note that these cases are not stayed.However,the parties are currently
scheduled to meet for a scheduling conference on March 4,2019.We encourage the parties to
franklydiscuss whether the outstanding matters outside this Commission's jurisdictionimpact this
docket's ability to effectivelyproceed at this time.
In order to allow the parties to meet,but compel CAIA to respond to SUEZ's
production requests,and considering the time lost with the filing and disposition of CAIA's
Motion,we extend the deadline for CAIA's response from March 1,2019,to March 8,2019.
ORDER
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that CAIA's Motion for a 60 day extensionto respond
to discovery is denied.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that CAIA respond to SUEZ's First Production Request
no later than March 8,2019.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise,Idaho this
day of March 2019.
PAUL KIËLLAÑ R,PRESIDENT
KRISTINE RAPER,COMMISSIONER
ERIC ANDERSON,COMMISSIONER
Diane M.Hanian
Commission Secretary
L\Lega]\WATER\EAGWl801_SUZWlx02\orders\SUZWl802 EAGWl801 orderon motion sc.doc
ORDER NO.34259 2